By Jamie O'Day, Treatment Facilities Liaison, Oral Cancer Foundation
Oral cancer is on the rise for the fifth year in a row. In the U.S. alone, 100 new individuals will be diagnosed with oral cancer daily, and one person will die every hour of every day because of this disease. The good news is that it does not have to be this way … and it starts with you. Oral cancer is an ideal cancer to identify early by screening, and dental hygienists have a very important role in early detection. One of the biggest problems associated with oral cancer is that in the early stages of its development, it is often painless, and the physical signs may not be obvious to the patient. However, by providing opportunistic cancer screenings to an existing patient population, which annually visits a dental office, everyday it would yield tens of thousands of opportunities to catch oral cancer in its early stages. When found at early stages of development, oral cancers have an 80%-90% survival rate. Unfortunately, at this time, the majority are found as late stage cancers. This accounts for the very high death rate of about 45% at five years from diagnosis and high treatment related morbidity in survivors. Published studies show that currently less than 15%-25% of those who visit a dentist regularly report having had an oral cancer screening. This is unfortunate considering how many lives could be saved if the cancer was found early. To learn how to conduct a proper screening, go to www.oralcancer.org/dental/screening.htm.For more on why screening works, go to oralcancer.org/dental/why_screening_works.htm.For decades, oral cancer has been a disease which mostly occurred in older individuals who had been tobacco users for most of their lifetime. Today that is no longer the case. We now know that HPV16, one of about 130 versions of the sexually transmitted virus, is the leading cause in oral cancer, and is found in about 60% of newly diagnosed patients. The fastest growing segment of the oral cancer population are people in the 25-50 age range, who are never smokers. This group primarily comes to the disease from HPV16. Their oral cancers occur in locations anatomically unique, mostly localized to the posterior of the mouth; in the oropharynx, tonsils and at the base of the tongue. This viral etiology makes identifying the “high risk” individual much more difficult and is just one more reason why you need to screen each and every patient that visits your office. More on HPV and oral cancer is at oralcancer.org/hpv/index.htm.We need you, the dental community, to be active and knowledgeable about oral cancer screenings because you are the first line of defense against this disease. Our best hope to save lives is through early discovery, public awareness and professional involvement. Like other cancer screenings people engage in such as cervical, skin, prostate, colon and breast examinations, opportunistic oral cancer screenings are an effective means of finding cancer at its early, highly curable stages. EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES!!!To learn more about oral cancer, please visit OCF’s website at www.oralcancer.org.
Oral cancer is on the rise for the fifth year in a row. In the U.S. alone, 100 new individuals will be diagnosed with oral cancer daily, and one person will die every hour of every day because of this disease. The good news is that it does not have to be this way … and it starts with you. Oral cancer is an ideal cancer to identify early by screening, and dental hygienists have a very important role in early detection. One of the biggest problems associated with oral cancer is that in the early stages of its development, it is often painless, and the physical signs may not be obvious to the patient. However, by providing opportunistic cancer screenings to an existing patient population, which annually visits a dental office, everyday it would yield tens of thousands of opportunities to catch oral cancer in its early stages. When found at early stages of development, oral cancers have an 80%-90% survival rate. Unfortunately, at this time, the majority are found as late stage cancers. This accounts for the very high death rate of about 45% at five years from diagnosis and high treatment related morbidity in survivors. Published studies show that currently less than 15%-25% of those who visit a dentist regularly report having had an oral cancer screening. This is unfortunate considering how many lives could be saved if the cancer was found early. To learn how to conduct a proper screening, go to www.oralcancer.org/dental/screening.htm.For more on why screening works, go to oralcancer.org/dental/why_screening_works.htm.For decades, oral cancer has been a disease which mostly occurred in older individuals who had been tobacco users for most of their lifetime. Today that is no longer the case. We now know that HPV16, one of about 130 versions of the sexually transmitted virus, is the leading cause in oral cancer, and is found in about 60% of newly diagnosed patients. The fastest growing segment of the oral cancer population are people in the 25-50 age range, who are never smokers. This group primarily comes to the disease from HPV16. Their oral cancers occur in locations anatomically unique, mostly localized to the posterior of the mouth; in the oropharynx, tonsils and at the base of the tongue. This viral etiology makes identifying the “high risk” individual much more difficult and is just one more reason why you need to screen each and every patient that visits your office. More on HPV and oral cancer is at oralcancer.org/hpv/index.htm.We need you, the dental community, to be active and knowledgeable about oral cancer screenings because you are the first line of defense against this disease. Our best hope to save lives is through early discovery, public awareness and professional involvement. Like other cancer screenings people engage in such as cervical, skin, prostate, colon and breast examinations, opportunistic oral cancer screenings are an effective means of finding cancer at its early, highly curable stages. EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES!!!To learn more about oral cancer, please visit OCF’s website at www.oralcancer.org.
As the Treatment Facilities Liaison for OCF, Jamie O’Day is proud to be a part of an organization that is striving daily to make a difference in the world, working for and with patients and survivors.
